Gonna Have to Face It, You're 'Addicted To Blocks' (ATB's)

Hi everyone. Are you singing that Robert Palmer classic to yourself now?! The current Our Creative Corner challenge theme has me in a tuneful mood and in this case it's not far from the truth; I can feel this addiction to Eileen Hull's Artist Trading Blocks developing rapidly!

And so I give you my take on Tim Holtz April  2014 tag...

To date I've applied Tim's awesome monthly tag inspiration to cards, but I always have difficulty with the 3D elements as the UK Postal Service hates anything that doesn't lie flat (and the butler won't hand deliver everything for me these days :) The flowers are an essential feature on this month's tag so I figured an Artist Trading Block would be the way to go.

In case you haven't seen Artist Trading Blocks yet they are blocks/boxes that can be die cut using Eileen Hull's Sizzix Scoreboard XL dies (smaller ones HERE and a larger one HERE). They are due to be released by the end of the month, fingers crossed. You don't need to use a crease mat with them as the creases are built into the design, but you do need to use heavier weight card/chipboard/mount board with them. That's great because it means they will take all sorts of creative abuse and won't warp!

Then it's just a case of decorating. You may have seen the wedding favours Anne and I had great fun creating HERE and HERE. And some of the best designers out there (Linda Cain, Shelly Hickox, Anita Houston, Amy Bowerman, and Anna-Karin Evaldsson, to name but a few) have been putting their own stamp on these blocks too (see them at The Artists on the Block).

Tim as ever has done a fantastic job of explaining how to decorate this on his blog so I won't bore you with too much detail here. Suffice to say I highly recommend following his colour choices as the results give you an incredible timeworn look that has to be seen to be believed.

I did add a little Salty Ocean Distress Paint to the Frameworks trellis along with the Evergreen Bough which he suggests. The verdigris feel positively shines through when the ink is applied over it into the 'scuffed' patches.

I chose a different paper from the Menagerie paper collection, a bright floral one that works really well when you patchwork it this way. I also opted out of the mirror and cork patches, going instead for altered foil pieces. These were created by applying foil tape to plain card, embossing it, working Iced Spruce Distress Paint into the de-bossed areas and, when dry, rubbing away the top layer. To protect the surface and add a glossy look a layer of clear embossing powder was heated over it.

You can see the inside of the box was lined with more of the Menagerie paper. I also added some paint to the corners to embrace the aged feel. From experience, I suggest you line the inside of your box (except for the front and back insides) before you assemble it to make it much easier.

I also recommend you decorate the outer surface of the box before you glue it together. It means you can add paste, inks, stencilling, paint and whatever else you fancy to a flat surface - so much better! Then add your embellishments to the assembled box. Grunge board and Grunge paper are superb materials for bending around corners of course!

The great part about the new Frameworks die cuts are the fact that you can join them together to form continuous patterns or chop them into smaller strips. You'll see I did this around the sides of the box. Whilst the joins are visible on this one I'm not at all bothered as real trellis would also have joins.

Let's take a look at the top - the flowers. They were of course the starting point for all of this. I went the 'make your own out of Mini Tattered Florals' route for this, using the same paper as for the inside of the box. Once assembled I died each of the two paper blooms with Distress Stains (which just happen to be on offer at The Funkie Junkie Boutique this week!!) For me they are unsurpassed at colouring patterned paper quickly and effectively.

The final 'plain' flower was made from suede effect Kraft Core card in the lightest colour available. You can find my tutorial for making this 'suede' paper HERE or in the Tutorials section of my blog, along with a whole heap of other ideas. To finish that TH button seemed perfect with the Philosophy tag and of course a little of Linda's custom seam binding.

I must confess to loving this so much that there is a distinct possibility the previous/future Tim tags will get the ATB treatment! Make sure you hop over to The Artists on the Block for lots more inspiration and check out The Funkie Junkie Boutique's Tim Tag Suggestions section for all your monthly 'needs' at great prices.

Tomorrow sees the announcement of the February challenge winners over at Our Creative Corner so I hope you can join me for that. And hands up who's off to Ally Pally next Sunday? It would be great to put more faces to names (I promise to wear a balaclava if that's too much of a scary thought!!)

Take care of yourselves, Jenny xxx

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